Thermostatic gas valve



April 17, 1962 N. M. HUFF ,025

THERMOSTATIC GAS VALVE Filed June 2, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet l 98 J/Z Z; Z28 April 1962 N. M. HUFF 3,030,025

/ THERMOSTATIC GAS VALVE Filed June 2, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 l mitedrates Patent @hice Efiddfi Patented Apr. 17, 1962 3,030,025 TEWRMGSTATKCGAS VALVE Norman M. Huli', Qhicag'o, ill, assignor to Harper-WymanCompany, Chicago, lll., a corporation of Illinois Filed lune 2, 1959,Ser. No. 817,513 6 Claims. (ill. 236-99) The present invention relatesto thermostatic gas valve and has for its primary object the provisionof a new and improved valve of the character in which a single handle isutilized to select a desired height of flame at the burner and also toadjust the temperature to be maintained.

In valves of the type to which the present invention relates there aretimes when a manually rotatable flame height selecting member isdeclutched from the valve handle which is then turned to effecttemperature adjustment. When this occurs, it is desirable to preventmovement of the valve element and the present invention has for itsprimary object the provision of new and improved braking means forpreventing movement of the rotary valve element when the valve handle ismoved for temperature selection purposes.

A further object of the present invention is to provide new and improvedvalve means including operating and braking means comprising a pair ofclutch elements of which one has associated with it braking means forholding against movement when the other element is movedindependently ofit.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a new and improvedvalve of the character set forth in the preceding paragraph in which oneof the clutch elements and the braking means are constructed as aunitary assembly with a portion of a housing for a movable valveelement.

In brief, the present invention comprises thermostatic adjusting meansand a rotatable valve element both of which are operated by a singlevalve handle. The handle is connected to the thermostatic adjustingmeans so that whenever it is turned the adjusting means is turned. Thehandle is connected to the rotary valve element by normally engagedclutch means adapted to be disengaged upon axial movement of the valvehandle. clutch elements is connected to the valve disc and in accordancewith the present invention spring means are adapted to providefrictional braking force on this clutch element whereby when the clutchis disengaged the valve driving element is held against rotation. Also,this one of the clutch elements and the braking means are constructed asa unitary assembly with at least part of the housing for the valve disc.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention shall becomeapparent from the ensuing description of an illustrative embodimentthereof, in the course of which reference is had to the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a valve constructed in accordancewith the present invention, with the valve and thermostat actuatinghandle omitted;

FIG. 2 is an end elevational view of the valve looking in the directionof the line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an end elevational view of the front end of the valve with thevalve handle and associated bezel illustrated;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged axial cross sectional view taken along the line4-4 or FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a transverse cross sectional view taken along the line 5--5 ofFIG. 4;

FIG..6 is a fragmentary enlarged view showing a portion of FIG. 4 betterto illustrate details of construction of the braking means of thepresent invention, but showing the clutch means in disengaged condition;

One of the FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a spring utilized in thedevice;

FIG. 8 is a top view of the spring shown in FIG. 7; and

FIG. 9 is a front view of the spring.

Referring now to the drawings, and first, primarily, to FIGS. 1, 2 and3, the valve of the present invention is indicated as a whole by areference character 10. It is adapted to be mounted upon and be suppliedwith gas from a gas supply manifold 12, the mounting being effected byan externally threaded dependent nipple 14, within which is a gas inletpassageway 16. The valve ineludes, in the main, a valve body 20, withinwhich is a chamber 22 (see FIG. 4) in which is mounted athermostatically actuated regulating valve indicated as a Whole byreference character 24 controlling the flow of gas from a manuallyoperable valve 26 including a rotary valve element shown to be a rotorvalve disc 28. The disc is adapted to be adjusted by a handle 30, whichis also utilized to select the temperature to be maintained. Thesevalves and the operating means therefor may take various forms, thatillustrated being of the type disclosed and claimed in copendingapplication of Wiberg Serial No. 817,519, filed contemporaneouslyherewith, and assigned to the 'assignee of this application.Accordingly, the valve will not be described in detail but onlysufiiciently to provide a better understanding of the present inventionwhich, as indicated heretofore, is directed to improved braking meansfor preventing rotation of the rotary valve element when it is desiredto adjust the tem perature setting to be maintained by the thermostaticvalve.

The thermostatic valve 24 includes a relatively station ary valve seat32 adapted to be moved axially for calibration purposes as by arotatable calibrating screw 34. The valve includes also a movable valvemember 36 biased away from the valve seat by a spring 38 and theposition of which is varied by thermostatic actuating means. Theposition is varied as through a bimetallic ambient temperaturecompensating lever 49 having one end 42 operatrively associated withvalve 36 and its other end 44 operatively associated with a rotatableaxially movable shaft 46 having an intermediate threaded section 48movable by the valve handle 30 to vary the temperature to be maintainedby the valve. The position of the lever and, thus, of the valve member36 is controlled by a thermostatically actuated pcwer device 50 whichmay be of the diaphragm type and connected as by a capillary tube 52' toa suitable sensing unit (not shown) which may include a thermostaticcapsule maintained in contact with the bottom of a cooking vessel placedupon a burner to which the flow of gas is controlled by the valve 10.For convenience, the thermostatic motor St may be mounted upon an endplate 54 closing the recess 22 and supporting also an outlet hood ascommunicating with a gas outlet passageway 58 and through which gasflows to the burner in a conventional manner.

The flow of gas to the thermostatic valve is controlled by the manuallyoperable rotatable rotor disc 28 and which has a planar face 60 abuttingagainst a planar face 62 formed on the valve body. The body and disc maybe provided with suitable passageways interconnecting the inletpassageway 16 and the recess 22 via the thermostatically operatedregulating valve 24. The passageways may be such that they enable thevalve disc 28 to be moved between the off and full on positions toprovide a manna ally regulated flow of gas to the burner as between alow flame setting 64 and a high flame setting 66 indicated on the valvehandle 30 (see FIG. 3) in cooperation with an indicating dot 68 on abezel 74 associated with the valve handle. The oil position is indicatedby a radial boss 71 on the handle when it is under the dot 68. In

FIG. 3 the valve is shown at an intermediate position to provide anintermediate height flame. In this position gas flows from the inletpassageway 16 to rotor passageway 72 and to a passageway 74 in the valvebody leading to the thermostatic valve 24, and hence, to the recess 22.For additional details of a construction which maybe used, see thecontemporaneously filed Wiberg application.

The rotor valve disc 28 is mounted in a housing or casing 76 having alarger diameter inner portion 78 and a smaller diameter axiallyextending portion 80 which are interconnected by a front wall 82 spacedsome distance forwardly of the rotor 28. The casing is secured to thevalve body by suitable means such as a screw bolt 84.

The valve handle 30 is connected to the rotor valve disc 28 throughselectively operable clutch means whereby it may be disengaged from therotor disc as described and claimed in the heretofore mentioned Wibergapplication, filed contemporaneously herewith. The connection iseffected through a rotatable and axially movable stem assembly indicatedas a whole by reference character 86 and including a valve stem havingan outer portion 88 of generally D-shaped configuration provided by aflat 89 and upon which the handle is secured and including also a hollowinner portion 96 with axial slots 92 therein connected to thethermostatic valve regulating shaft 46 through a pin 94 mounted at theouter end of the shaft and extending outwardly into the axial slots 92.The stem assembly includes also a drive washer 95 fixedly secured to thestem assembly as by peening 95A and a radially inwardly extending keys95B extending into pposed slots 92.

The drive washer 95 is adapted selectively to be connected to the rotordisc valve 28 through a drive yoke indicated as a whole by referencecharacter 96 and including a central portion 98 against the inside ofwhich the drive washer 95 normally abuts and against which it is biasedby a spring 100 serving also to hold the valve disc 28 seated againstthe valve body. The drive yoke 96 includes a pair of axially extendingdrive fingers 102 extending into recesses 104 in the valve disc wherebythe two are maintained in driving relation.

In accordance with the present invention the drive yoke 96 is rotatablymounted in the housing 76 as upon a tubular sleeve or bearing element106 fixedly secured within the smaller diameter forward extension 80 ofthe housing. The tube 106 has opposed outwardly extending front and rearflanges 107 and 108, the former of which abuts against the front end ofhousing part 89 and the latter of which abuts against a shoulder 189provided by counterboring at the region of the central opening in thedrive washer.

In the position shown in FIG. 4, the stem assembly and valve handle aredrivingly connected to the valve disc 28 through the drive washer anddrive yoke through engaged clutch means constituted by spaced axialforwardly extending projections 110 on the drive Washer andcorresponding apertures 112 on the yoke. To decouple, or to disengagethe drive washer from the drive yoke, the valve handle and stem assemblyare moved inwardly against the force of spring 100, thereby to disengagedrive projections 110 on the drive Washer 95 from the yoke as shown inFIG. 6. After such disengagement, the valve handle and stem assembly canbe turned independently of the rotor disc valve 28 so that rotation ofthe handle turns only the shaft 46 to adjust the temperature setting ofthe valve.

In accordance with the present invention, improved braking means areprovided to prevent rotation of the valve disc 28 when the stem assemblyis uncoupled from it and rotated for temperature adjustment. Thisbraking means is frictional in nature and acts upon the drive yoke aswill be brought out in the following description in which reference ishad particularly to FIGS. 4, 6, 7, 8 and 9. Referring now to thesefigures, it Will be noted that there is interposed between the frontwall 82 of the housing and the adjacent central portion 98 of the driveyoke 21 generally circular spring 116 encircling the tubular bearing 186and applying an axial force against the drive yoke. The spring prior toassembly in the valve has a generally concave-convex shape as shown inFIGS. 7, 8 and 9. When assembled, it is held in substantially a singleplane whereby it exerts a frictional force on the drive yoke. Theconstruction is such that one of the clutch elements and the brakingmeans comprise a unitary assembly with at least a portion of the housingfor the valve disc 28. This force brakes the drive yoke when the latteris declutched from the drive washer as it is in the position of FIG. 4.The result is that the rotor valve disc 28 is effectively held inselected position when the thermostatic setting of the valve isadjusted.

The valve may be provided as described and claimed in the previouslymentioned Wiberg application with means for limiting movement of thevalve and thermostatic adjusting means. This means may take the form ofan indented detent 120 on the valve housing, see FIG. 5, which isadapted to be engaged by the drive fingers 102 of the drive yoke and bya radial projection 122 on the drive washer which is utilized also toinsure return of the valve disc to off position independent of theclutch means.

To review the operation briefly, the valve handle is continuouslyconnected to the thermostatic valve to effect temperature selection. Itis normally clutched to the rotor valve disc as shown in FIG. 4 in orderto rotate the valve disc. Ordinarily the valve will be in its offposition at which time the radial boss 71 on the valve handle ispointing upward toward the dot 68. To turn on the valve, the handle isturned in a counterclockwise direction. The extent of turning isdetermined by the desired height of flame. As indicated in FIG. 3, anintermediate height of flame is shown to be chosen. At this time, gaswill flow from the manifold 12 through inlet passageway 16, the passage72 in the rotor valve and passage 74 in the valve body via thethermostatic valve 24 to the chamber 22 and thence through the outletpassageway 58 and hood 56 to the burner with which the valve isutilized. After the desired flame height has been selected, the handle30 is pushed inwardly to declutch the drive washer from the yoke 96 asshown in FIG. 6. It is then turned to rotate shaft 46 and thereby setthe desired temperature to be maintained by the valve. During theindependent thermostatic adjustment when the drive yoke is declutchedfrom the drive washer, the braking spring 116 applies a frictional forceto the disc drive yoke 96 whereby it and the valve disc 28 are preventedfrom moving. To return the valve to off, the valve handle 38 is moved ina clockwise direction until the clutch elements become reengaged.Thereafter continued movement returns the valve to its off position.

While the present invention has been described in connection with anillustrative embodiment thereof, these details are not intended to belimitative of the invention except insofar as set forth in theaccompanying claims.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent ofthe United States is:

l. A thermostatic gas valve including a rotatable disc type gas flowcontrolling control element movable in a range between off and full onpositions, a thermostatically actuated valve at the output side of saidelement, rotatable adjusting means for adjusting the temperature settingof said valve, operating means rotatable in a predetermined directionfor operating said control element between off and full on positions andoperating said adjustable means to adjust the temperature to bemaintained by said thermostatically actuated valve, manually operablemeans for retating said operating means and movable axially relative tothe latter, disengageable clutch means including a first clutch elementthat is fixedly connected to said manually operable means for rotary andaxial movement therewith and a second clutch element drivingly connectedto said control element and having a rotary driving connection with thefirst clutch element and selectively disengageable from the first clutchelement at least over a major portion of said range upon axial movementof said first clutch element, means mounting said second clutch elementfor rotation on a stationary part of the valve and preventing axialmovement thereof, and friction means acting axially on said secondclutch element thereby to prevent movement of said control element byadjustment of said temperature adjusting means after disengagement ofsaid clutch means.

2. A thermostatic gas valve as claimed in claim 1, wherein said firstclutch element is positioned between the second clutch element and saidcontrol element and including spring means located between said firstclutch element and control element.

3. A thermostatic gas valve including a rotatable gas flow controllingcontrol element movable in a range between off and full on positions, ahousing surrounding said element, a thermostatically actuated valve atthe output side of said element, rotatable adjusting means for adjustingthe temperature setting of said valve, operating means rotatable in apredetermined direction for operating said control element between oil"and full on positions and operating said adjustable means to adjust thetemperature to be maintained by said thermostatically actuated valve,manually operable means for rotating said operating means and movableaxially relative to the latter, disengageable clutch means including afirst clutch element that is fixedly connected to said manually operablemeans for rotary and axial movement therewith and a second clutchelement drivingly connected to said control element and having a rotarydriving connection with the first clutch element and selectivelydisengageable from the first clutch element at least over a majorportion of said range upon axial movement of said first clutch element,means mounting said second clutch element for rotation on said housingand preventing axial movement thereof, and friction means supported onsaid housing acting axially on said second clutch element thereby toprevent movement of said control element by adjustment of 4 saidtemperature adjusting means after disengagement of said clutch means.

4. A thermostatic gas valve as claimed in claim 3, wherein said secondclutch element, friction means and housing comprise a unitary assembly.

5. A thermostatic gas valve including a rotatable disc type gas flowcontrolling control element movable in a range between oil and full onpositions, a housing surrounding at least the periphery of said element,a thermostatically actuated valve at the output side of said element,adjustable means for adjusting the temperature seting of said valve,means including manually rotatable means comprising a stem portion thatis axially movable and rotatable in a predetermined direction foroperating said control element between oil and full on positions and foradjusting the temperature to be maintained byisaid thermostaticallyactuated valve, disengageable clutch means within said housing includinga first and a second clutch element selectively disengageable at leastover a major portion of said range, said housing having a tubularaxially extending portion surrounding said stem portion, a tubularsleeve mounted on said housing between said tubular and stem portions,the first clutch element comprising a drive washer secured to the end ofsaid stem portion inside said housing, said second clutch elementcomprising a drive yoke connected to said control element and rotatablymounted on the exterior of said sleeve between the drive washer andhousing, and friction means comprising a spring around the exterior ofthe sleeve between the housing and drive yoke and exerting an axialforce on the yoke for preventing movement of said control element -byadjustment of said temperature adjusting means after disengagement ofsaid clutch means.

6. A thermostatic gas valve as claimed in claim 5, including a controlelement biasing spring interposed between the control element and drivewasher.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,153,886 Grayson Apr. 11, 1939 2,826,368 Winslow Mar. 11, 19582,885,151 Weber May 5, 1959

